Prague Blog: Spring Break

Hello All-

Sorry for such the delay but I have not had the time to update my blog. My last three weeks have included 11 days of traveling Italy and the French Rivieria, then five days in Paris during easter weekend, then a week of school and a day trip to Cesky Krumlov. I am going to start by divulging about my fantastic spring break trip around Italy. It began in Milan. We only flew into Milan and then trained, after one night, to Florence. The trip truly starts there.

Day One (Friday): We trained from Milan to Florence. It took about three hours and the weather outside was beautiful. We arrived in Florence during the early afternoon, checked into our hostel, which was located only two minutes walk from the center square of Florence. The hostel was really nice and we had a private room to ourselves. That night, due to the great weather, we hiked up to the high point in the city. We watched the sunset from the Piazzale Michelangelo. This square had a copy of Michelangelo's David but in green marble, not white. The view was breathtaking, as was the hike to the top :)

After sunset we walked back to the main center of Florence, over the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge and had a pizza dinner. After dinner we walked around, we saw the Duomo at night, debated going on the Carousel (which I regret not doing) and listened to many street performers. My favorite performer was an American who had a great voice and played covers outside the Uffizi Gallery. He played songs by Simon and Garfunkel and U2. He was awesome!

Day Two (Florence): Today we got up early and headed to the most famous Art Gallery in Florence, and one of the most visited in the world, the Uffizi Gallery. This gallery housed works by Michalengelo, Leornardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, and Raphael (just to name a few). We spent the morning walking around this museum and attempting to soak in all the beautiful art. That afternoon we decided to hit up the other most visited museum in Florence, the Accademia. This museum, although small, houses Michelangelo's famous David. Words cannot describe how amazing this piece of art is. It was by far the most unexpectingly beautiful thing I have ever seen. The David is the best piece of art I have ever seen and probably will ever see in my lifetime. The David exceeds all expectations. Maja and I spent a few hours just sitting in the room built specifically for his masterpiece. I will have to go back to Florence one day to visit it, it was that breathtaking. After Accademia, we walked around, shopped at the local vendors and found a grocery store so we did not have to spend ridiculous amounts of money on food. That night it poured so Maja and I stayed in and planned our adventure for the next day, Pisa.

Day Three (Pisa and Florence): It was bad weather all day. We decided to sleep in, which was definitely needed, and then got on a train and headed to Pisa. The train ride was only and hour and it was nice to see some different countryside. We spent the afternoon in Pisa, but considering it was off and on pouring rain, the day was not that enjoyable. We did get to see the sights. Took the traditional pictures, which sadly are on Maja's camera not mine, and did a little touristy shopping. Pisa was a cute small town, but their really is not much there. I am glad we went, despite the fact that it poured most of the time.

When we got back to Florence we went out to dinner, had pizza once again, and listened to our favorite street performer. It was a great way to end out time in Florence. The next morning we were getting up early to train further south. Roma was next on our list of stops.

The famous leaning tower of pisa. The umbrellas and the wet pavement give you all a glimpse of the weather conditions we endured on this day. :( It was cool though, and I was slightly afraid that it was going to fall over. It is truly leaning.

This is the main piazza in Florence. This piazza is right outside of our hostel. A copy of the David is in this square and my favorite street performer played here at night.

This is another picture at Pisa. This photo includes the church built next to the leaning tower of Pisa.

The walk from the train station to famous monuments of Pisa took us across this great bridge. This is a photo I took from the bridge. Pisa is a cute little river town.